Page 7 of Their Diamond Ring Ruse

‘I see no point in denying the truth. What use do I have for false humility?’

‘Is everything black and white with you?’

‘I have room for a few shades of grey.’

‘But not a rainbow?’

‘Definitely not. I’m in technology. I like the simplicity of binary.’

‘Maybe there’s fun to be had in the complex?’ Lily challenged.

Julian took a single step towards her, making her crane her neck to look up at him.

‘I agree,’ he said, in a darkly sensual voice. ‘In taking it apart and reducing it to its simplest parts...understanding what makes it tick.’

* * *

Lily shivered under his gaze. She had never been with a man before, but for some reason she was certain Julian would be able to take her apart—which was a wildly inappropriate thought to have about someone she had just met. She had to regain her balance. Take this exchange into safer waters and away from what was pulsing between them.

‘From what I hear, taking things apart is what you do best.’

‘Then your sources must not hear everything.’

He took a lazy sip of his drink and Lily watched the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

God, she just could not tear her eyes away from his. There was no word for the colour of them. Hovering somewhere between green and blue, they reminded her of the most untameable seas. Fierce. Beautiful. Just like the rest of him.

A tiny gold hoop earring twinkled prettily in the helix of his left ear—so out of place with everything else about him. The impeccable suit, the perfect posture, the utter seriousness... It hinted at something hidden. Something she wanted to learn. And it screamed danger. Told her that he wasn’t from her world.

She was drawn to him. If she closed her eyes she could still feel the current skittering across her body. The flare of her pulse. Reactions she hadn’t ever felt before. Even though they were just bantering, she couldn’t control her body’s awareness of him. She felt the gruff rumble of his voice when he spoke like a tremor in her world. Lily wanted nothing more than to be around this man all night...

‘Are you saying you don’t?’

She picked up her wine glass for fear that if her hands were free she might do something terribly reckless. Like touch him again.

‘Oh, I do. I will take apart anything that isn’t working.’

‘Brute.’

Lily thought she almost saw him smile then. Something flashed in his eyes before disappearing entirely.

‘Sometimes you need to be.’

He looked away, for a moment, as if deciding whether or not he wanted to say more. Lily held her breath, hoping he would.

‘If you had a tree you knew could produce the best fruit but was incapable of it right now, you would tend it. Cut away the rot. Find the source of the problem and eliminate it. Maybe you would have to trim it so far back that it would take a whole seasons for it to recover but once it did, you would have your perfect tree. What use is a business that is bound to fail?’ he asked. ‘How does that make money? Everyone it supports is in danger of losing their livelihood. It might not be pretty, but sacrifices have to be made—and if that makes me a brute, I’ll happily wear the title.’

‘Hmm, you care...’ She smiled in playful accusation.

‘Most would say I’m incapable of it.’

Lily saw the hint of hidden depths in those hard eyes. ‘I get the feeling most people don’t really know you at all,’ she said.

He cocked a perfectly shaped brow. ‘That’s a bold assumption to make about someone you don’t know.’

She jutted out her chin. ‘Am I wrong?’

‘Not at all,’ he conceded.

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